Set how a page appears in search results

Every page has its own Search settings: the title and description a search engine shows for it. Writing them yourself, for each page that matters, is the simplest thing you can do to be found and clicked. The editor shows a preview of the result as you type.

Before you start

• The page open in the editor. See Edit a page in the editor.
• A short phrase people would search for. For Bright Dental's new-patient page: "new patient dentist".

Steps

1. In the editor, press Search settings at the top.
2. Read the preview of the search result at the top of the window.
3. Type the Page title, for example "New Patient Consultation — Bright Dental". The counter shows how close you are to 60 characters; search engines cut titles around there.
4. Type the Description: one sentence someone would click, for example "Book a 20-minute consultation with our friendly team, with same-week appointments." The counter goes up to 155. Leave it empty and search engines pick a sentence from the page.
5. Type Keywords if you want them, separated by commas. Google ignores these; some other engines and ad tools still read them.
6. Press Save.
7. Repeat for each page, starting with your home page and the pages you share most.

Blog posts

1. In Sites › Blogs, open a post with Write / edit.
2. Fill in the Summary. It is shown on the blog's list and in search results.
3. Add a Cover picture address; it is the picture a shared link shows.
4. Use What it targets for the search phrases the post is written for. Draft it for me writes to those targets.

What happens next

• Search engines pick up the new title and description the next time they visit the page. That can take days or weeks; the app cannot speed it up.
• A new funnel step starts with the funnel's name as its title, so no page is left without one. Change it to something that says what the page offers.
• Renamed website pages keep their old address and forward it, so a page's place in search results is not lost when you rename it.

Things to know

• Each page's settings are its own. A website's pages do not share one title.
• Your own domain helps people recognise your results. See Connect your own domain.

For agencies

Set search settings inside each client's pages with Sub-accounts › Open, so every result carries the client's name.

Troubleshooting

The counter has changed colour. The title is over 60 characters or the description over 155. Search engines will cut them short. Shorten them.

Google still shows my old title. Search engines update on their own schedule. Check again in a week or two.

Search settings I set on a blog page did not last. The blog's list page and post pages are rebuilt whenever a post is published, which replaces anything set on them in the editor. Set a post's summary and cover in the post itself.

My page does not appear in search at all. Check the page is published and on the address you expect. New sites can take a while to be found; linking to the page from places people already visit helps.

Related

• Edit a page in the editor
• Start a blog and publish posts
• See how your sites are doing